Nine years ago from the very moment that I write this, I was sitting in front of the TV set watching live pictures of the chaos at the World Trade Center in Manhattan. I was worrying about the folks I know who worked in that building and nearby. I was wondering who could have done this. I was also concerned what else would happen next. Three planes had hit the Trade Center and the Pentagon and no one knew how many more were on their way. Most of all, I remember the overwhelming sadness that hit me when the Twin Towers collapsed. My youngest daughter was at school; there were kids in her class whose had parents who work in the Trade Cednter or nearby. these children were just old enough to understand what was happening, but they had no comprehension of why. Indeed, my daughter came home from school and spent the next hours with her best friend out in a fort that they had built behind the house. They were waiting for another attack. The news dribbled in over the next few days. One of my neighbors had been killed at the Trade Center. Three of the fathers of children at my daughter's school were among the dead there also. Another man I knew had been on flight 93 and he died ina field in Pennsylvania while valiantly sacrificing his life to protect the nation's capital from a further attack.
All these people were dead and they were just a few among the thousands who perished. The vast majority died at the World Trade Center. They were slaughtered without ever being made aware why this was happening. they were killed in a dastardly sneak attack by Islamic terrorists acting in the name of Allah. They were "infidels" being killed in the name of a religion that called for their death. They were not just victims of a crazy few. True, most Muslims did not support the actions of the terrorists and they should not be blamed for the actions of these folks, but there was and is a minority of Muslims who did and do support what happened on 9-11. Just think of the Palestinians dancing on the rooftops in the West Bank at the news of the attack. Think of the reaction in Damascus and Teheran. America should neither forget nor whitewash what happened on that September morning.
On this 9-11, the biggest issue about the attack is whether or not a mosque should be built adjacent to the site where the World Trade Center was built. Many on the left argue that the builders have a right to build where they please, but that argument misses the point. The vast majority of Americans agree that the developers of the mosque have the right to build wherever they desire. The issue is whether they need to be sensitive to the feelings of the rest of America who look on with horror and anger at the thought that the site where so many were murdered in the name of Allah will now have a mosque built in his honor. The Imam and his group know that they could easily move the site a few blocks further away. But they resist changing. The Imam and his group know that they are upsetting millions of Americans by building at the WTC. But they resist changing. the Imam and his group know that they are driving a wedge into the American people that separates Muslims from others, a wedge that will leave scars for years. But they resist changing. the only question that remains is why are they doing this? It cannot be that they do not understand. By now, even a deaf, dumb and blind man would understand. I leave it to the Imam and his group to give us a coherent and true answer to this question.
Until the day when there is an aswer to this question, I call upon the opponents to the mosque to keep up their efforts, to not forget what happened at that site, to not forget those who died, to not forget those who murdered them, and to not forget the twisted religion of those who carried out this heinous crime.
No comments:
Post a Comment